EDITORIAL: Legislature must scrutinize value of two state funds

By The Enterprise

Published 4:00 am, Monday, July 7, 2014

Now that Gov. Rick Perry is about to ride off into the post-gubernatorial sunset, we can say that it's better late than never to assess one of his favorite political perks of office: economic incentive funds.

With the Texas economy thriving, as Perry frequently points out, we hope the select committee determines whether companies with ties to Perry really needed the money they got from either the Emerging Technology Fund or the Texas Enterprise Fund. Together, the funds have bestowed more than $900 million in about 10 years.

For example a few weeks ago, Toyota received a $40 million award, the single-largest ever from the Enterprise Fund, then said it was not a deciding factor in it moving its headquarters and 4,000 jobs to Plano. More troubling than the grants serving no purpose is them serving Perry's purposes. One study found that nearly half the companies that received Enterprise Fund grants also made donations to Perry's campaigns over the years.

Before the Legislature decides next year whether to continue pouring taxpayers' money into the two incentive funds, we hope the Straus committee comes up with a clearer picture about how they operate. Are they necessary, or can the money be used more effectively elsewhere? Can they function free of political favoritism? Can they be more transparent?